The last play of the Seattle Seahawks' 14-12 "win" over the Green Bay Packers on Monday night will be recalled for years to come. Combine that with the bogus pass-interference call on Green Bay's Sam Shields -- not to mention a series of other questionable calls, including one on Seattle's Kam Chancellor -- and the overall result in the Great Northwest felt a wee bit unsatisfying, as a few folks have noted in the aftermath ...

Lombardi: Enough is enough

After three weeks of bad penalties and bad calls,
Michael Lombardi is ready for the regular officials to return.
More ...

But let's put aside what the rest of the sports world is opining about -- the Golden Tate touchdown/M.D. Jennings interception -- for a moment and go in a slightly different direction. The Packers-Seahawks game further illuminated an issue that is tough to stomach -- namely, that illegal contact and pass-interference penalties on defensive backs are creeping up on absolute absurdity (thank goodness Dwyane Wade doesn't play receiver). These calls are as inconsistently flagged as any judgment in the game today. Bottom line: A defensive back has the right to try to catch the ball. It's not the cornerback's fault when a quarterback makes a poor throw, or when he jumps a route that fooled no one. The Denver Broncos got an uber-important gimme against the Houston Texans (fortunately, it didn't change the outcome), and we all saw what happened on Monday Night Football (outcome altered). But we move on, as the league always does. So ...

... Tennessee looked like a professional football team. Oakland woke up. Ditto Kansas City. On a related note, the once-formidable Saints are the NFC's only winless team. Dallas still can't block anybody -- but is 2-1. There's also a new sheriff in town, and for the first time in a long time, it's not an NFC team.

Per usual, you can bestow your football brilliance upon @Harrison_NFL. So let's push off on this deal...

The
Texans darn near let
the game in Denver slip through their fingers (
Ben Tate) -- thanks in part to the aforementioned pass-interference penalty, which was unfortunately called on
Kareem Jackson. The
Texans might not
feel like the best team in football, but at 3-0 with a pair of road wins, they've earned this spot.
Matt Schaub continues to be quite effective (290 passing yards and four touchdowns Sunday), though he took a beating from the
Broncos.

Matt Ryan is playing at such a high level right now that the game appears to be slow for him. He threw a pick to
Antoine Cason on Sunday, but that single miscue was dwarfed by several outstanding intermediate throws, an excellent (almost indefensible) connection with tight end
Tony Gonzalez and a relationship with play-caller Dirk Koetter that's firing on all cylinders.

RANK

4

1-2PACKERS

1

I'm not dropping Green Bay more than one spot for that loss (win). And I even feel bad about that one little spot.

If
Andre Brown gives this team the kind of production
he did last Thursday night in Charlotte (113 rushing yards, two touchdowns), look out. What's nice about Brown is his decisiveness when it comes to picking running lanes. Now, if he could only play corner ...

RANK

7

3-0CARDINALS

8

Third-and-9, 10:16 to go, Cardinals up 24-6, Eagles in field-goal range (at least). This was
Michael Vick's shot to get his guys back in the game. Unfortunately, the dude never had a chance. Arizona's pressure was suffocating, with
Sam Acho forcing an intentional grounding. Fourth-and-29 = game over. Ray Horton's defense is the reason this team has won 10 of its last 12 games.

OK, getting away from the play we've all seen 35,000 times by now, what a performance by the
Seahawks' front seven, which dominated in the first half with eight sacks. Some of those guys push off better than
Golden Tate, and that's really saying something. (Sorry, I can't help myself.)

RANK

11

2-1EAGLES

2

A lot of
Eagles fans were upset over their franchise's "ridiculous"
No. 9 ranking last week. Well, let's go "Spaceballs" and take it from ridiculous to
ludicrous. There is no glossing over 12 giveaways in three games. Forget any other stat. That easily paces the entire National Football League. Huge test next week with the red-hot
Giants coming to town. The way this season is going, Philadelphia will not only win, they won't so much as bobble a ball.

RANK

12

2-1COWBOYS

5

Dallas is 2-1, but
that second win was ugly. The offensive line is killing this team. Right tackle
Doug Free had an awful outing.
Mackenzy Bernadeau sounds like a French painter whose piece has been discovered on "Antiques Roadshow." Owner Jerry Jones says the
Cowboys "are built to win now." Yes, they can beat ITT Tech's defensive line.

Was that
Heath Miller we saw catching the
Steelers' first two touchdowns of the game? Yes, and with an up-and-very-down running game that just couldn't get going against the
Raiders, that offense needs an additional threat. If there's one thing we learned from
the Steelers' loss in Oakland, it has to be that it's darn near impossible to decipher who's good in the NFL anymore. (As if this was the only game that reflected that notion ...) Either way, Pittsburgh takes a big hit for losing to our
32nd-ranked team from last week.

Hate to quote
last week's rankings, but, alas, here goes:
"Minnesota ran out of luck in Indy on Sunday. Bad pun. But not as bad as all of us league analysts completely overlooking Christian Ponder's fine play through two games ..." Ponder was solid again Sunday, completing 21 of his 35 passes for 198 yards and two touchdowns, with
a really nice touchdown scamper as the icing on the cake. All against the best defense in the league. Hey, this club is 2-1.

RANK

17

2-1CHARGERS

6

The
Chargers started 2-0, but these rankings had them lower than some 1-1 teams. Call it a lack of trust in San Diego's ability to play with the big boys. This tepid enthusiasm was more than validated on Sunday. Atlanta spread out and completely dominated John Pagano's defense before tapping the brakes in the fourth quarter. (Yes,
the Chargers' 24-point loss could've been much worse.) Time to regroup in Kansas City.

RANK

18

2-1BENGALS

2

Raise your hand if you aren't a
Bengals fan and you know who
Andrew Hawkins is. The former undrafted free agent from Toledo has made some big plays so far in the young season, including
a 59-yard touchdown Sunday at FedEx Field. Meanwhile, that's two straight strong performances from
Andy Dalton. The redhead's past two weeks have included six touchdown passes and passer ratings of 128.2 and 132.9. That's tight.

Can anyone at the Buffalo Applebee's find that panic button that was lying around two weeks ago?
Another solid win for the Bills, highlighted by a strong defensive showing -- one that kept
Browns rookie
Trent Richardson (27 yards) in check. The secondary caught two balls, and kept
Brandon Weeden guessing on third down. The No. 20 ranking is partially due to uncertainty at the running-back position, with
C.J. Spiller potentially on the shelf. Next up: New England.

RANK

21

1-2BUCCANEERS

3

If
Greg Schiano gets his offense as fired up as
his victory-formation defense, the Bucs will have more than a shot against the
Redskins, who can't stop anybody. On another note, what an impressive game by defensive lineman
Michael Bennett. The guy completely destroyed the
Cowboys' O-line. Four tackles, two sacks and a forced fumble is a pretty good line for a guy who was cut by the
Seahawks a few seasons back.

After all the hoopla over who would start at tailback -- a banged-up
Steven Jackson or rookie
Daryl Richardson -- it didn't really matter, as the offense
struggled mightily in Chicago. St. Louis produced 160 yards of total offense and was a putrid 3-for-13 on third down.
Jeff Fisher definitely has a defense that will compete, but the looming problem is how often those guys will have to be on the field. The
Rams only had the ball for 26 minutes in the loss.

Where did
that offensive output come from? The
Titans came into last Sunday's game having produced just four passing plays of 20-plus yards, and Detroit had allowed just three (fewest in the NFL). So, naturally,
Jake Locker completed five such balls in the league's
most ridiculous contest on Sunday.
Nate Washington's 71-yard touchdown gets my early vote -- and I'm guessing a lot of other people's -- for Play of the Season.

RANK

26

1-2JAGUARS

4

The Jags could not afford to go 0-3. Thankfully for them, they didn't. Gene Smith and the rest of the front office need to get this deal turned around. Although quarterback is always the centerpiece, Jacksonville's development (or lack thereof) transcends
Blaine Gabbert. One big highlight of Sunday afternoon's
win over the Colts was Maurice Jones-Drew's monster performance (177 yards). Despite notching the season's first victory, the usual holes were omnipresent, as the pass rush didn't log a single sack and the wideouts combined for five catches. Thank goodness one of those catches
went for 80 yards and a touchdown, or the
Jaguars would have gotten a harsh reminder of the aforementioned issues in the form of an 0-3 record.

Miami just could not afford to lose
Reggie Bushagainst the Jets, as
Daniel Thomas does not possess the same explosiveness, even though he made some plays. The
Dolphins' offense pretty much did everything it could late to keep New York in the game. The most frustrating aspect of Miami being 1-2 (instead of 2-1) was
Dan Carpenter's two missed field goals, including
the 48-yard attempt in OT. This team is built to play close games with stout defense and a ground attack, ideally providing the opportunity to win late. Carpenter
must come through in that situation for a club that doesn't stack up with its opponents at the skill positions -- even if it's not a gimme kick.

RANK

29

1-2RAIDERS

3

So nice
to see Darren McFadden bust one to the house. It almost makes up for a defense that can't stop anybody. Through three weeks, the
Raiders are giving up 29.3 points (26th in NFL) and 381 yards per game (23rd) while allowing a 50 percent success rate on third-down conversions (t-29th).
Dennis Allenmust turn around that side of the ball and give
Carson Palmer some help. The process continues in Allen's old haunts -- the
Raiders need a "W" in Denver this week.

RANK

30

1-2REDSKINS

8

The injuries on the defensive side of the ball are responsible for this ranking. In Sunday's
38-31 loss to the Bengals, you saw a defense that had just lost
Brian Orakpo and
Adam Carriker for the season, with a secondary that was letting receivers run around like little kids at a public swimming pool. Through three games, Washington has allowed opposing quarterbacks to throw for 1,050 yards and 10 touchdowns.

RANK

31

0-3SAINTS

8

For all of us who thought the
Saints would be viable playoff contenders sans
Sean Payton, the 0-3 record is a wake-up call underlining the importance of a head coach/organizational leader. There might be no
underrating the importance of a franchise quarterback in relation to winning, but perhaps there is something to be said for overrating it a bit.
Drew Brees is a
Hall of Fame quarterback who can't play defensive tackle or cornerback.

RANK

32

0-3BROWNS

1

When I spoke to
Brandon Weeden last week, he felt the
Bills wouldn't change what they had shown defensively, that they would play it pretty straight. Unfortunately, Buffalo did enough to frustrate Cleveland on third down while picking off two Weeden passes. While he does have six picks on the young season, the rookie quarterback hasn't received a whole lot of support.
Greg Little has put on a disappearing act, and 27 yards rushing from your stud running back (
Trent Richardson) isn't gonna get it done.